Last Sunday at First Baptist Church, guest speaker Allyson Felix, American track Olympic champion, shared her story with a packed out church. Among the hundreds there, the women’s track team was hanging off every word she said. Speaking in three different sessions, Felix spoke of her journey towards being an Olympian and how her faith kept her going during difficult times.

“Till high school, I didn’t find track and field,” Felix said during her interview with Pastor Ben Prater. “To be really good at something, it takes a lot of work. It’s not an overnight thing.”

Koby Styles, head cross country and track coach, sat with the women’s track team was impressed by what he heard left inspired to work harder as a coach, role model, and as a runner himself.

“In my world, she like the Michael Jordan of track and field on the female side. In the sport of running, that’s what we all aspire to be like. She’s the most decorated track and field Olympian,” he said. “You can find inspiration in her, it’s really motivating whether it’s in track or in class.”

Felix is a six-time Olympic gold medalist, all in track, becoming the first athlete since Florence Griffith-Joyner in 1988 to win three gold medals in single Olympic games. She has ran the 200m race, the 4x100m race, the 4x400m race as well as the 400m race in the Olympics. She became a track idol for athletes everywhere. In her interview with KFDX, she said it’s unreal; it hasn’t really connected yet and she considers it a real blessing that she’s able to run. 

“My faith is the reason I run,” Felix said during her interview with KFDX. “It’s a privilege to give back to the community.”

The track team left the church inspired and uplifted for their upcoming conference.

“I felt that she really inspired people and set goals for other athletes,” Leticia Shaban, criminal justice senior, said. “She said Anything is possible just stick to what you believe in.”